Something's digging into my back…
I opened my eyes- only to shut them again due to the harsh sunlight. I turned away from the bright light and shifted my eyes to my surroundings.
Woah.
The chamber was in a much worse condition than I'd thought. Only a couple yards away from me, half the ceiling had collapsed. The stairs from the basement was buried by the fallen debris.
Luckily the ceiling didn't collapse on my head.
The rest of the room was mostly smashed, and my half of the room was just balancing perilously on the few remaining pillars.
Suddenly alert, I scrambled to my feet, away from the structure I was leaning on. It was clearly crumbling, with cracks running running all over it. They could collapse too in any second.
I have to get out of here.
I stood up, properly- and my stomach lurched.
Right, I haven't eaten for three days.
I tried to move, slowly. My stomach stretched and protested uncomfortably, but I wasn't going to be sick.
Good. I took heavy breaths as my mind scrambled for instructions.
I should look for supplies before I leave.
I eyed the remaining bodies. Four of them hadn't been crushed. I searched them. A dagger, a rag and a piece of rotten bread was all I found. I eased the thinnest one out of his shirt and stripped another one of his robe. The shirt was long enough on me to be a dress. I sheathed the dagger with the rag.
Tch. No money. The bread is also rotten. Noblemen are unsurprisingly useless.
I eyed the collapsed roof which had fallen at an angle and looked almost sturdy enough to climb. The rubble on the other hand…
I don't have any other option.
I started slow, stepping from rock to rock uneasily. I could feel how loose they were. My feet skidded when I had to step on the sand-like dust, and I almost fell off.
It took me hours to get out of there. My hand was blistered and bleeding by the time I scrambled out. The sun was already half down.
I cast a longing glance back at the mansion. The kitchen… it was sure to have lots of food. Bread,grapes, sugar… -yet I can't go. The servants and those thugs would be there and it's too risky to slip into a building that might cave any minute.
Sighing painfully, I turned my back and began walking slowly.
*****
I shivered.
After I entered the forest, I'd decided that it was probably safest to follow the path. Roads lead to towns, and towns had people and food. Though as a runaway slave I'd have to stay hidden.
I had gnawed on some tree bark earlier, which had settled my stomach, except I didn't have a good enough source of water. The tree bark wasn't particularly energising either and I'd been dragging my feet for longer than I could deal with. It was getting dark, and of course staying on the path would make me a target for bandits. I was exposed and the robe was blowing off me in the cold.
I suppose this is still the safest option I have. The forest is the animals' domain.
I climbed up into a high tree. I came across a three way split in the branches and settled on my back to avoid turning in my sleep and closed my eyes lightly.
****
The moonlight pooled like water in the forest.
It fell on the leaves, the branches and the grass and bounced off into the shadows. Soft light was everywhere. The stars gleamed like faint fairy lights over the leaves that were rustling softly in the wind.
The night was gentle.
There was faint movement somewhere in the shadows.
Deep in the recesses of the darkness, a faint silhouette could be made out. A figure so thin and small, it could only be a child.
She was leaning over a beast.It was quiet. Everything was silent, except her gasps, faint and shallow and the strange squishy sound of something soft and wet.
The breeze blew stronger, and moved a tree branch out of the way. For a second- just a single second, moonlight hit her face.
Blood coated her face from her cheeks to her chin, and streamed down the sides of her jaw. It coated her neck and flecked on her shoulders. Her hands were dripping, clenched around raw meat, and the tortured blood seeped out onto her knees.
There was a second of silvery flash below her before the moonlight was shut out.
"Argh, this sucks."
It was her first proper meal in what may have been months. Meat. Yet it was tougher than the tree bark and raw. She'd only managed to snick off a tiny piece, but the food had lit a fire in her stomach and she'd slashed through it's pulpy stomach before she knew it. Her stomach was protesting violently against the sudden onslaught of food, and she knew she was in danger of throwing up but she couldn't stop. Her hands dug past the furry layers and into the still warm innards of the wolf, fisting a handful of flesh from inside the slippery mass and she tore.
She looked feral.
The sun was beginning to shine when she'd finished. Reaching up and wiping away at her mouth, she got to her feet. She disappeared into the morning twilight, the only evidence of her presence being the carcass she left behind.
hello everyone hope you enjoyed this chapter. So things are finally starting. What will this lead to?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments and rate the chapters o(〃^▽^〃)o
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